Turkish History

Perhaps the definitive guide to Istanbul. Detailed but never boring, we stroll through Istanbul in the company of the best-informed and most engaging of guides who clearly love the city themselves. So the visitor is advised to stroll to the Galata Bridge for his first view of the city. But you should do your sight-seeing there as do the Stamboullus, seated at a teahouse or a caf on the lower level of the Bridge … looking out along the Golden Horn to where it meets the Bosphoros and the Sea of Marmara. • Galata Bridge One of the most enjoyable…

Life and death of Suleyman the Magnificent’s childhood friend and Grand Vizier, Ibrahim Pasha Our hotel is named after the neighbouring 16th century Ottoman palace (now the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum) built by Ibrahim Pasha, the most popular Grand Vizier of Ottoman history. Below is a short biography (taken from Wikipedia). Ibrahim Pasha was born in the town of Parga and was Greek by birth. He was sold as a slave at the age of six to the Ottoman palace for future sultans situated in Manisa in Western Anatolia. There he befriended Suleyman who…

This paper tries to analyze the much talked about ‘Turkey-Kurdish’ conflict. According to the Kurds this conflict could also be called as ‘self-respect’ and ‘empowerment’ movement. The movement aims to end the centuries of ‘ill-treatment’ and ‘subjugation’ in the hands of both the Ottoman Turks and the Persian rulers on the one hand and the Turkish Republic and Iranian Republic on the other. In the meantime, the pro-Kurdistan supporters, since the third decade of the 20th century, have taken various methods, tricks and strategies to gain this, but…

Name: Turkish Delight (Hazelnut) Brand: Sultan Place Purchased: gift Price: $4.69 Type: Turkish Delight I’ve gotten the impression that some of those who come to the Candy Blog are curious about Turkish Delight. I’ve already detailed my impressions of The Ginger People’s Ginger Delight. Today’s review is of a more traditional Turkish Delight. But first a little background from the back of the package: An old Turkish aphorism tells one to “eat sweetly and speak sweetly”. Sweets have always been an important component of Turkish cuisine. The origin…

“Come, come.” The woman gently takes my arm and steers me into the large round room. “Come” is the only word she knows in English, which makes her one word up on me, as I don’t speak a word of Turkish. But perhaps it’s just as well we can’t have a conversation, as I’m completely unclothed in a room with several other women, and no one is making much small talk. Each of us has our own attendant, each of them gesturing for us to sit here, move there, lie this way, and stand here, while she variously pours water over us, exfoliates us, soaps us, covers…

Turkish investigations into al-Qaeda have been obstructed to protect conflicts of interest, financial and otherwise, among al-Qadi and high-ranking Turkish officials, according to dissenting investigators and government officials. [8] The file against figures allegedly financing terror groups, including Middle Eastern-based al-Qaeda was [purportedly] dropped due to a lack of evidence, but many believed that the reason for it being dropped was intense pressure from the government on the inspectors, since several ruling Justice and Development (AK)…

Spurred by general release in Turkey of Atom Egoyan s Ararat . Not without a few bumps along the way. ISTANBUL Turks are among the world s proudest and most patriotic people, and many feel an especially deep admiration for their army, without which the nation might never have emerged from the wreckage of the Ottoman Empire more than 80 years ago. But are they ready to see a film in which Ottoman Turkish soldiers shoot defenseless civilians and burn women alive? That question has set off a bitter debate here. The film is Ararat, a 2002 release…

Fans of Besiktas (Black-White), Galatasaray (Yellow-Red) and Fenerbahce (Yellow-Blue) wave Turkish flags during an anti-government protest in Istanbul on June 2. Mark Twain s maxim that History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme is echoing in the streets of Istanbul. The echo is heard in everything that makes Turkey resemble a sequel to the 2011 Egyptian Revolution that toppled assumed President-for-Life Hosni Mubarak. Turkey and Egypt are of course two very different countries with different leaders, different political systems and different…